controversy

Apr 15 2013

Performed “1901” and “Ignition”

The rumor blowing up Saturday was that Day 2 of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival could feature a surprise appearance by electronica icons Daft Punk. According to the Twitterverse, it would probably take place during the set of headliners Phoenix.

But when the special guest finally materialized on the main stage, it wasn’t Daft Punk, it was R. Kelly. Yes, that R. Kelly.

Coby Kindles  |   OW Contributor
Dec 29 2011

State wants to sell, but locals push to keep them

During the 1940s, Golden State Mutual became the largest Black-owned insurance company on the West Coast and it became a cornerstone of the Black community in Los Angeles. It was one of the first companies to offer life insurance to African Americans in L.A.

The company’s headquarters building, located in the West Adams district, was designed by Black architect Paul Williams. The building itself became a piece of Black history, when the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission approved its designation as a Historic-Cultural monument on April 7.

Coby Kindles  |   OW Contributor
Apr 28 2011

State wants to sell, but locals push to keep them

During the late 1940s, Golden State Mutual became the largest Black-owned insurance company in the western United States. It was one of the first companies to offer life insurance to this city’s African American population, and it operated for 60 years from its home office in the West Adams district until closing a few years ago.

Jan 27 2011

Does he or does he not live in Inglewood?

Inglewood residents recently protested outside of the Ladera Heights home of newly elected Mayor James Butts.

Butts, the former police chief of Santa Monica, recently beat incumbent Daniel K. Tabor in a heated runoff election to replace former Mayor Roosevelt Dorn, who was forced from office after pleading guilty to a public corruption charge in Jan. 2009.

After four elections in one year, voters elected Butts with 56 percent of the vote on Jan. 11.

Sep 14 2010

Three airport concession contracts approved

LOS ANGELES - After several delays, a divided Board of Referred Powers approved on Tuesday three retail concession contracts at Los Angeles International Airport, including one for a company that lost in the the bidding process.

The board plans to meet again next week to consider awarding fiercely contested food and beverage concession contracts.

"I am delighted to have made this much progress,'' Los Angeles World Airports Executive Director Gina Marie Lindsey said.

Airport officials began soliciting bids for new contracts in May 2009.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
San Diego college students and volunteers will carry out their sixth home restoration project on Wednesday, July 10 through Sunday, July 14. as part of the “Healing our Heroes’ Homes” (H3) program created by the nonprofit Embrace. The five-day effort will take place at the home of medically retired Marine Corps Capt. Sarah Bettencourt. Bettencourt served with many different units across the country during the Global War on Terrorism and developed a rare neurological disorder in 2008. With a focus to restore the homes of disabled veteran homeowners, H3 falls in line with Embrace’s mission to mobilize college-student volunteers and community members to serve less fortunate members of civilian and veteran communities. The project for the Bettencourts’ home includes kitchen and bathroom remodeling, building ADA-compliant disability ramps, widening their driveway to ADA standards, widening doorways and landscaping.
 
District of Columbia
The 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival will showcase its five-year community research project on African American identity with the program “The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style, and Identity.” This multicity collaboration examines the history and culture of the aesthetics of African Americans. The festival will be held June 26-30 and July 3-7, outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets. “Whether we realize it or not, we are all dress artists. The way we compose our look is a creative expression of our ideas about who we are and who we aspire to be,” said Diana N’Diaye, program curator. “This program explores the diversity of African American traditions of style, but also teaches young people the importance of documenting their own culture and saving that information for themselves and future generations.”